Department for Transport

Overseas Visitors

Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of overseas visitors to (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland arrive by air; and what proportion of total spending by overseas visitors such visitors account for in each nation.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The table below gives the number and proportion of overseas visitors to the UK and its constituent countries who travel by air and the proportion of spending by these visitors in 2013. The results are based on data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which is managed by the Office for National Statistics. Overseas visitors departing the UK by air, 2013  Number of VisitsSpending ThousandsPercentage of total departing visitors£ millionsPercentage of total expenditure by departing visitors(c) England20,95573%15,62085%(b) Scotland2,12387%1,54792%(d) wales51959%27377%(e) Northern Ireland16344%9546%(a) All Regions23,72272%17,75284%   The IPS collects information on visits and expenditure by overseas residents on the respondents' departure from the UK. In the majority of cases respondents will arrive and depart the UK using the same form of transport but there will be a small number who arrive and depart using different modes. This potential discrepancy is greater for Northern Ireland, as there are difficulties collecting estimates of travel across the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Bus Services: Franchises

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library the progress report by KPMG of its review of bus market franchising when it is issued in early March 2015.

Mr John Hayes: The consultants will publish their report once they have completed the study, expected to be in the early summer.

A1

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to improve traffic flow and safety on the A1 between London and the A46 at Newark.

Mr John Hayes: In December 2014 the Government published the Road Investment Strategy, which outlines how £15.2 billion will be invested in strategic roads between 2015 and 2021, improving traffic flow and safety across the network.   This is the biggest upgrade to our strategic roads (motorways and major A-roads) in a generation, building on the £9 billion worth of schemes under construction in this Parliament.   The Roads Investment Strategy includes a new scheme that will upgrade the A1(M) between junctions 6 and 8 around Stevenage to three lane Smart Motorways to improve traffic flow.   The Government has also announced that it will undertake a new strategic study to identify and assess options for further investment in the southern section of the A1. This study will look at bringing consistency to the route between the junction with the M25 and Peterborough. In particular, it will look at the case for improving to motorway standard the existing non-motorway section linking the two parts of the A1 (M).

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate measures are in place to assess the toxicity of fumes entering aircraft cabins from aircraft engines; what steps he has taken to ensure the prevention of adverse effects on pilots, cabin crew and passengers caused by toxic levels of fumes; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department has completed four research studies into cabin air which involved close cooperation with airlines to facilitate the research. The main study was published by Cranfield University in May 2011 and concluded there was no evidence for pollutants occurring in cabin air at levels exceeding available health and safety standards and guidelines.   The Department has also engaged with the Committee on Toxicity who considered the Department’s four published reports during 2013. The Committee concluded that there is no evidence that fume events are causing ill health in passengers or crew.

Home Office

Crime: Victims

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints by victims of crime have been lodged against (a) the police and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The table shows the total number of complaint cases recorded against all Home Office Police Forces and the British Transport Police from 2009/10 – 2013/14 (data is from the Independent Police Complaints Commission). Data is not collected on whether the complainant in each case is a victim of crime.Full statistics on police complaints are published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission on its website; this includes a breakdown of the number of complaints by police force: www.ipcc.gov.ukThe Home Office does not collect data on the number of complaints made against the Crown Prosecution Service.   2009/102010/112011/122012/13*2013/14Total recorded in year34,31033,09930,14330,36534,863 *The definition of a complaint was broadened from this point onwards to include direction and control (applies to complaints received on or after 22 November 2012).

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Ukraine

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what military equipment has been gifted to Ukraine in the last two years; and what estimate he has made of the value of that equipment when it was gifted.

Mr David Lidington: The UK Government has gifted £1.266m in protective gear (helmets, body armour), medical kits, winter clothing and winter fuel to the Ukraine Armed Forces. In addition to this, 10 armoured vehicles at a cost of £1.2m were also gifted to the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission.

Nigeria

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Nigerian government on the two recent suicide bombings in the north of that country.

James Duddridge: We have condemned these horrific suicide bombings in northern Nigeria, which are heinous examples of Boko Haram’s brutality. We discuss Boko Haram's ongoing campaign of violence with the Nigerian government on a regular basis. We remain committed to helping the Nigerian authorities defeat Boko Haram and end the violence in northern Nigeria, and are providing a substantial package of military, intelligence and development support to Nigeria to help achieve that goal.

Czech Republic

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Czech government on the shooting of eight people in a restaurant in Uherský Brod on 24 February 2015.

Mr David Lidington: The British Embassy in Prague was in contact with the Czech police throughout this incident and monitored the situation closely. No British citizens were involved in the incident. Our thoughts and condolences are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this tragedy.

EU Reform

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the outcome of the Government's Balance of Competences Review on his Department's policy on EU reforms.

Mr David Lidington: The review of the Balance of Competences provides the most extensive analysis of the impact of EU membership ever undertaken by the UK or any Member State. Across the entire review, the reports draw on nearly 2,300 pieces of evidence. The reports provide a wealth of evidence that supports the government’s aim to reform the EU to make it more open, competitive, flexible and democratically accountable, with fair treatment of countries inside and outside the eurozone for the benefit of everyone in Europe. This includes the need for a broader and deeper Single Market, greater competitiveness and flexibility, better (and less) regulation and more transparent and accountable institutions and processes.

Falkland Islands

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the (a) vessels and (b) companies which have been sold licences to fish in the Falkland Islands in each of the last three years have been found guilty of criminal behaviour in other legal jurisdictions.

Mr Hugo Swire: The honourable Member should contact the Department for Natural Resources within the Falkland Islands Government, who can supply her with this information.

Niger

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Niger to press for further action to be taken against people perpetrating attacks on civilians and church property.

James Duddridge: We strongly condemned the attacks on churches and other buildings in Niger in January, which followed the “Je suis Charlie” rally in Paris. The UK will continue to raise the importance of freedom of belief and expression with the Nigerien Government, bilaterally and in concert with international partners such as the EU. However, we welcome the Nigerien government's condemnation of the attacks.

Taiwan

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Taiwanese government on labour conditions on board Taiwanese-flagged vessels operating in Falkland Islands waters in each of the last two years.

Mr Hugo Swire: The British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei has held discussions with the Taiwanese authorities over fishing issues around the Falklands, most commonly regarding fishing licences.Although we have not raised labour conditions aboard Taiwanese flagged vessels in recent conversations, we are seeking to approach the Taiwanese authorities on this issue.The Falkland Islands Government has devolved responsibility for the Falkland Islands' fishing industry, including its legislation, regulations, and licensing.

Falkland Islands

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department has provided to the Falkland Islands government to tackle modern slavery on foreign fishing vessels operating in Falkland Islands waters.

Mr Hugo Swire: The licensing, legislation, regulations and management of the fishing industry on the Falkland Islands is a devolved responsibility of the Falkland Islands Government.The Falkland Islands Government maintains a rigorous fisheries licensing regime to ensure all vessels operate to the highest possible standards and investigates all allegations of abuse on fishing vessels within Falklands' waters.The British Government is committed to tackling modern slavery wherever it exists in the UK, and around the world.

Falkland Islands

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of foreign nationals who have been reported as missing from foreign-flagged fishing vessels in Falkland Islands waters in each of the last five years.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold this information. Such data is collected and is held by the Falkland Islands Government who have devolved responsibility for the Falkland Islands' fishing industry.The honourable Member should contact the Department for Natural Resources within the Falkland Islands Government who can supply her with this information.

Embassies: Females

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the abuse of women in foreign embassies in the UK.

James Duddridge: We have no record of any representations having been received in recent years about the abuse of women in foreign diplomatic missions in the UK. We are aware that a small number of individual cases of alleged abuse of female domestic workers have been investigated or are under investigation by the police. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treats any allegation of criminal offences committed by those with diplomatic immunity seriously. We work closely with diplomatic missions in the UK, the police, the Home Office and NGOs to ensure an appropriate response to all allegations. If an allegation of mistreatment or abuse requires further investigation by the police, the FCO will request from the diplomatic mission concerned, on behalf of the police, a waiver of the diplomat’s immunity. Failure to provide a waiver may result in the FCO demanding the withdrawal of the diplomat.

Middle East

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on the legality of Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territory; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Officials from our Consulate-General in Jerusalem, including our Consulate-General, regularly meet with UN OCHA representatives, including the Head of OCHA in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), Ramesh Rajasingham, to discuss the impact of the occupation in the OPTs (including topics ranging from settlements, settler violence, demolitions, blockade on Gaza to movement and access restrictions, and others).Mr Rajasingham has also briefed many of the visiting Ministers and Members of Parliament from the UK on the impact of the occupation, including The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) in February 2014, the Minister for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts) in March 2014, myself in October 2014, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) in November 2014 and the Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition (Mr Miliband) in April 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 19 January 2015 from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr P. Metcalfe.

Mr David Lidington: My right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) replied to the the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton's letter of 19 January 2015 with regard to Mr P. Metcalfe on 25 February.

Attorney General

Trials

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Attorney General, how many re-trials the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has pursued for each type of offence in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of all prosecutions brought by the CPS those re-trials represent.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of re-trials that have been pursued. To identify the number of these would require a manual exercise to review individual files which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Electronic Government

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to raise consumers' awareness of their rights following poor service from fact-checking websites for Government-provided services such as the EHIC card.

Jo Swinson: As the focal point of delivery of all government-funded consumer advice and information, the Citizens Advice Service is a one stop shop where consumers can find advice about their rights from a team of consumer advice experts but if they feel they have had poor service from a fact checking websites. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland can advise on consumers’ rights under the Consumer Protection from unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs). These regulations set out broad rules outlining when commercial practices are unfair. These fall into three main categories: Misleading practices, like false or deceptive information or descriptions, or being misleading by leaving out important information.Aggressive sales techniques that use harassment, coercion or undue influence.Conduct below a level which may reasonable be expected towards consumers (honest market practice/good faith). Consumers can contact Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06 or use the website: www.adviceguide.org.uk. In addition, anyone wishing to report a copycat website can find information on GOV.UK - Avoid and report Internet Scams and Phishing, which provides information for common services affected including tax and passports. As the member for Colne Valley was advised by my right honourable Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 26th February, the Government is working with search engine providers and others such as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) to address the problems that can arise from misleading / copycat websites in relation to official government online services. The Advertising Standards Associations (ASA) has responsibility for ensuring compliance with the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing. Complaints about misleading advertisements can be made through ASA’s website at: www.asa.org.uk. However, the best place to access official government services remains GOV.UK, the single website for government. Action is taken against websites that pass themselves off as Government sites, or claim to be acting on behalf of the Government when they are not. Last year four search warrants were executed on properties in England. The operation led to the arrest of five individuals and disrupted the operation of at least 25 copycat websites.

Carers: Pay

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that all care workers receive at least the living wage for every hour that they work.

Jo Swinson: The Government encourages employers that choose to pay the Living Wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs. However decisions on what wages to set are for employers and workers to agree as long as employers pay at least the national minimum wage.   We are taking action to improve compliance with the national minimum wage in the social care sector. We are working closely with the Department of Health, Communities and Local Government and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to make workers more aware of their rights and encourage them to call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368 if they think they have been underpaid. HMRC respond to every complaint, as well as undertaking targeted, risk-based enforcement action.   This Government is committed to improving living standards, particularly for the low paid and the only way to achieve a sustainable increase in living standards is to focus on economic growth, employment and cutting taxes for the low paid. This is exactly what we are doing.   In addition to the NMW we are raising the personal allowance, allowing people to take home more of what they earn. From April 2015 the average person will pay over £825 less in income tax than 2010 and over 3.4 million people will be taken out of income tax altogether.

Fairtrade Initiative

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to encourage retailers to stock more Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade principles.

Jo Swinson: The power of Fairtrade, championed by some of Britain's best brands, is undeniable. While it remains a commercial decision on whether or not to stock Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade Principles, sales of Fairtrade products in the UK rose by 14% in 2013/14 to £1.78bn.   Policy on Fairtrade products rests with the Department for International Development who have invested £18 million over six years in Fairtrade in order to help open up new markets in harder to reach places and also to break down trade barriers faced by women.   For our part, we are working with the British Retail Consortium to develop guidance which sets out how retailers can apply appropriate due diligence and reporting in respect of their supply chains to ensure that consideration is given to the manner in which goods are brought to market.   Enabling the world's poorest people to get a fair price for what they produce helps end poverty and also creates tomorrow's new markets for us to trade with.

Foreign Companies

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what policies his Department has in place to protect product standards in British companies when they are taken over by foreign companies.

Jo Swinson: The Takeover Code governs takeovers of UK public companies in order to provide an orderly framework for the conduct of bids and to ensure that shareholders are treated fairly and equally. However, the Code does not contain any rules about product standards following a takeover. These would only be regulated by the Takeover Panel if the bidder had made a specific commitment or intention statement on the matter during the course of the offer.

Business: Sustainable Development

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require companies and financial institutions to produce an annual integrated sustainability report.

Jo Swinson: The UK already requires quoted companies to report, where necessary for an understanding of their business, on environmental matters. Companies are required to report their policy, principle risks and outcomes.   In addition, UK will implement directive 2014/95/EU that requires reports to cover, amongst other matters, environmental policy. This disclosure will include a discussion of the company policy, including the due diligence measures implemented, the outcome and the principle risks related to the environment related to the company’s operations, business relationships, products and services.   Considering the requirements already in place and those necessary to implement the EU Directive, we have no current plans to bring forward additional legislation proposals on this issue.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many agricultural apprenticeships were taken up in financial years (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts in the Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care sector subject area is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (SFR). Data is published on an academic year basis, rather than financial year: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/401393/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls

Digital Technology: EU Action

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which (a) film, (b) television, (c) music and (d) publishing companies his Department consulted on the contents of the Government's policy paper, UK vision for EU's digital economy, before it was published.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in the creative and other interested sectors in developing the UK’s vision for the Digital Economy, including representatives of film, television, music and publishing companies. The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders on the digital single market agenda to promote a single market which supports growth and enables businesses, creators and consumers to enjoy the opportunities presented by the digital economy.

Digital Technology: EU Action

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to UK vision for the EU's digital economy, published in January 2015, what steps the Government is taking to implement the recommendation that the European Commission should act to ensure access to digital media content across EU borders; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: As set out in the UK’s vision for the Digital Economy, the Government believes that the digital single market should make it easier for people to access and use content on fair and reasonable terms across borders. The Government will be engaging with the European Commission and stakeholders to promote targeted changes based on the best available evidence. We must ensure we have a copyright framework that supports economic growth, protects our creators, rewards creativity and responds to consumer needs.

Department for International Development

Democratic Republic of Congo

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the situation between the government of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Mr Desmond Swayne: It is vital that progress is made towards ensuring all armed groups no longer pose a threat in DRC. We welcome the government of DRC’s announcement that military action against the FDLR (the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) has begun. However, we are keen to see meaningful action on the ground.

Commonwealth

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve education in Commonwealth countries.

Mr Desmond Swayne: We support education directly in 22 countries, of which 13 are Commonwealth countries. We are also a major funder of the Global Partnership for Education, which supports education in 60 countries of which 17 are Commonwealth. Globally, including support to Commonwealth countries, we have supported 10.2 million children in primary and lower-secondary school and have helped to train 123,000 teachers to improve the quality of learning since 2010.

Developing Countries: Sugar

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's report, The Impact of EU Sugar Policy Reform on Developing Countries, published in February 2012, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the effect of those reforms on those countries.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The sugar regime is one of the most heavily regulated and distorting elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the agreement to end sugar beet quotas in 2017 is an important step towards removing these distortions.   Naturally, the Government is concerned by the effect that these reforms may have on sugar producers in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries highlighted in the report. This is why we encouraged the European Commission to establish a Fund of Euro 1.24 billion in 2006 to assist sugar producing countries to adapt. My Department will continue to engage with the European Commission, the Private Sector, and ACP countries to maximise the impact of these funds. We will also ensure that ACP countries continue to benefit from preferential access to the EU sugar market.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on helping each developing country increase its tax base since 2010.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223693, which the 26 countries are in which her Department is undertaking tax capacity work; how much funding is allocated to each such country; and how many people are employed to undertake that work.

Justine Greening: DFID is already engaged in or is developing tax capacity building in the following partner countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This includes indirect support through multilateral organisations. In accordance with OECD DAC reporting guidelines, we do not currently record tax programmes under a separate spend code but we have been expanding our tax work over the Parliament. This includes the establishment of a specialist Developing Country Capacity Building Unit in HMRC, to deploy HMRC staff to provide technical expertise in support of these efforts. A wide range of staff across the Department are engaged in work on tax, including policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices. In addition, HMRC staff provide tax capacity technical assistance in DFID partner countries.

Caribbean

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2015 to Question 223530, and with reference to her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, how the figure of £73,329,000 for planned expenditure in the Caribbean in 2014-15 was arrived at.

Justine Greening: In the 2013/14 Annual Report a portion of the Overseas Territories planned spend was initially included in the DFID Caribbean total.

Department for Education

Free Schools

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total (a) capital and (b) revenue expenditure has been to date on free schools opened in districts which did not have a forecast need for extra school places.

Mr Edward Timpson: Holding answer received on 25 February 2015



Every free school has been opened in response to either the need to provide extra school places, the need to provide parents with greater choice or the need to provide more high quality school places. Almost three quarters of free schools have opened in areas with a forecast need for more places and 94 per cent of free schools approved since January 2014 plan to open in areas with a need for more school places.   To date, the total (a) published capital costs of the schools that have opened in response to parental demand or a need for high quality school places is around £50 million and (b) the revenue expenditure for these schools is approximately £76 million.

Children: Epilepsy

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether primary school staff receive compulsory training on assisting students with epilepsy; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: All those training to be teachers must meet national standards. The standards require teachers to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with medical conditions, to be able to adapt their teaching to the needs of all pupils, and to have an understanding of the factors that can inhibit learning and how to overcome them.Statutory guidance specifies that any member of school staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs must have received suitable training. Governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies (excluding 16–19 academies) and management committees of pupil referral units are required to have regard to this guidance. It recommends that this training should be sufficient to ensure that staff are competent and have confidence in their ability to support pupils with medical conditions. The guidance advises that staff will need an understanding of the specific medical conditions they are being asked to deal with, the implications of these conditions and preventative measures.Schools are also advised that policies in place to support pupils with medical conditions should set out arrangements for whole-school awareness training so that all staff are aware of the school’s policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions and their role in its implementation.The guidance can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3

Animal Welfare: Curriculum

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will include animal welfare in the school curriculum.

Mr Nick Gibb: The new primary science curriculum, introduced from September 2014, focuses on the essential scientific knowledge that young people need to be educated citizens and provides opportunities for pupils to be taught about animal welfare.It teaches primary pupils about the requirements for animals to survive, including appropriate habitat, food, water and air. Subjects such as Citizenship and Personal, Social, Health and Economic education also provide opportunities for pupils to learn about animal welfare and teachers are free to decide what further activities they offer on this topic.

Radicalism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken on the implementation of the commitments made in and monitoring of outcomes following the 2011 Prevent Strategy.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Prevent programme is a strand of CONTEST – the UK’s strategy for countering extremism – aimed at stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism and extremism. The Government publishes an annual report on CONTEST which describes recent developments in the terrorist threat to the UK and its interests, and the progress made in our counter-terrorism work. This includes high-level information about the contribution of different Government departments to the implementation of the Prevent Strategy. The most recent report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contest-annual-report-2013.   The Department for Education established a dedicated unit to lead work on the commitments set out in the Prevent strategy. This work has focussed on putting in place due diligence arrangements and strengthening regulatory frameworks to reduce the risk of children and young people being exposed to extremist views and to increase their resilience to extremism and radicalisation. The Secretary of State made a statement to the House on 29 January on the progress the Department is making to implement the recommendations contained in Peter Clarke’s report on Birmingham schools, and this gives details of a number of steps the Department has taken to tackle extremism in schools. The statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/update-on-birmingham-schools.

Schools: Radicalism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help schools in Tower Hamlets tackle radicalisation.

Mr Edward Timpson: Tower Hamlets is one of 30 Prevent priority areas, identified through a prioritisation process which assesses information from police, local authorities and others. Each priority area receives funding for a Prevent coordinator, and is supported by the Home Office to develop delivery plans relating to Prevent objectives.   Local Prevent co-ordinators work with partners in their areas, including schools, for example by training frontline staff in tackling extremism and identifying people at risk. The local police also provide support.   The Department for Education also works with individual schools where concerns arise. Following recent reports of pupils from Bethnal Green Academy travelling to Syria, the Department is providing support to the school through the Regional Schools Commissioner, in addition to the support being provided by the local authority and police in particular.

Schools: Fairtrade Initiative

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to raise awareness of the Fairtrade movement in schools.

Mr Nick Gibb: Awareness of the Fairtrade movement can be covered in Citizenship or as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Schools are free to decide what to include in their PSHE programmes and should tailor the content of PSHE lessons to take account of the needs and interests of their pupils.

Vocational Education

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2015 to Question 225258, how many 16 to 18 year olds studied for BTEC qualifications at each level in (a) schools, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges in each year from 2006-07 to 2011-12.

Nick Boles: The number of 16 to 18 year olds entered for one or more BTEC qualifications between 2007/08 and 2011/12 is shown in the tables below, by level and institution type. The analysis is based on data collected by the Department from examination awarding organisations. Figures for 2006/07 are not readily available. Entry Level2007/082008/092009/102010/112011/12Schools (state-funded, including special schools)300300300500600Sixth Form Colleges100100100200200FE Colleges2,4002,7004,1007,5008,000   Level 12007/082008/092009/102010/112011/12Schools (state-funded, including special schools)1,0009001,1001,9003,100Sixth Form Colleges1,1001,0001,0001,1001,000FE Colleges12,90014,90019,50029,10030,900   Level 22007/082008/092009/102010/112011/12Schools (state-funded, including special schools)13,40014,70016,00017,20016,900Sixth Form Colleges5,5006,0006,6008,9007,600FE Colleges40,20047,50054,70061,30061,800   Level 32007/082008/092009/102010/112011/12Schools (state-funded, including special schools)8,30013,30020,30031,10041,700Sixth Form Colleges7,4009,90012,40017,10020,700FE Colleges66,50082,30095,300103,700121,500   Note that where a learner was entered for BTECs at more than one level, the highest level has been shown in the table.

Culture: Education

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release of 26 January 2015, whether the funding announced to support children's cultural education programmes is in addition to existing funding.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education provided £15 million of funding for cultural education programmes during 2012-2015. The press release of 26 January 2015 announced cultural education funding of more than £4 million for 2015-2016. This represents additional funding and takes funding for cultural education programmes for 2012-16 to over £19 million.

Ministry of Justice

Domestic Violence: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic violence trials in each magistrates' and Crown court in Lancashire in 2014 (a) collapsed and (b) were postponed due to the complainant not being present.

Simon Hughes: The information requested in relation to both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court is not held centrally and could only be provided by accessing and examining individual files at a disproportionate cost. Computerised data is available on the number of adult trials which did not proceed because a prosecution witness did not attend. However it is not possible to filter down that information to domestic violence trials or to the non attendance of the complainant in domestic violence cases as the computer recording systems for the magistrates’ and Crown court do not break down trial data into specific types of cases or types of witnesses (complainant or other).

Prisoners: Kent

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national prisoners there are in the prison system in Kent; and how many such prisoners have completed their sentence and are awaiting deportation.

Andrew Selous: At 31 December 2014, there were 965 foreign national prisoners held in prisons in Kent. 19 of those had completed their sentence and were detained in prison under immigration powers.

Driving Under Influence

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) breathalysed and (b) convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: Driving offences can have very serious and sometimes devastating consequences for victims and their families. That is why the Government has toughened the law by closing loopholes relating to breath tests conducted by the police. The number of people breathalysed by police from 2008 to 2012 (the latest available) can be viewed in table 1. Data for 2013 is planned for publication in April 2015, and data for 2014 is planned for publication in April 2016. For reporting purposes the Home Office does not differentiate between ‘positive’ and ‘refused’ breathe tests. If an individual refuses a breath test, this is an offence which carries the same maximum penalty as a positive breath test. The number of offenders found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or refusing a test in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest available) can be viewed in Table 2. Court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in spring 2015



Drink Driving - Breathalyser Statistics 2008 - 13
(Excel SpreadSheet, 35 KB)

Courts

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courtrooms there are in (a) the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice, (b) the County Court in Birmingham, (c) the Family Court in Birmingham and (d) the High Court in Birmingham.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Royal Courts of Justice has 122 court rooms which are available for use by the High Court. The Birmingham Civil Justice Centre has 56 court rooms available for use by the High Court, family court and the county court. The use of a courtroom for any particular case will be a matter for listing and the judiciary.

Domestic Violence

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that domestic abuse victims are informed of the release from prison of their abusers regardless of how long they have served in prison.

Mike Penning: The Government is committed to putting victims and witnesses first in the criminal justice system. We have considerably improved support given to victims, including revamping the Victims’ Code to ensure victims of the most serious crimes get access to vital services like counselling to help cope with and, where possible, recover from what they have been through. Our statutory Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) is offered to all victims where the offender has committed a violent or sexual offence and received a sentence of 12 months or more. The scheme enables victims to be kept informed by victim liaison officers of key stages of the offender’s sentence, including release, and to make representations on conditions to which the offender may be subject on release. This entitlement is outlined in the Government’s Victims’ Code, which came into force in December 2013. The Victims’ Code gives victims of crime clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and better tailors services to individual need. The National Offender Management Service Domestic Abuse Policy Strategy sets out that it is best practice to offer the VCS to domestic abuse victims, regardless of the length of the offender’s sentence and whether the offender will be subject to licensed supervision in the community. Such decisions are made on a case by case basis. This is outlined in the guidance for victim liaison officers.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Electoral Register: British Nationals Abroad

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Overseas Voter Day on 5 February 2015; what budget was allocated to that campaign; and how many overseas registrations resulted from that campaign.

Mr Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission’s campaign to target eligible British citizens living overseas was launched on Monday 2 February and will run until Friday 17 April. This is a predominately online campaign with supporting media activity and partnership work. The campaign targets the top twenty destinations for British citizens living overseas. Overseas Voter Registration Day on 5 February 2015 highlighted the launch of the online campaign, which started on Monday 2 February, and encouraged other organisations to help get potential overseas electors registered.The overall budget for the campaign, which includes Overseas Register to Vote Day, is £132,000. To support Overseas Voter Registration Day, the Commission developed a suite of resources with tailored branding and messaging and shared this with its partners and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; who in turn shared the resources with overseas British Embassies and Consulates. These shared resources included a joint press release with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as social media posts. These were successfully shared over the course of the day with media coverage secured in target countries including Spain, France and Cyprus. We received an excellent response on social media, for instance the Commission’s own overseas voter blog post has now been viewed by people in over 70 different countries. Over 4000 overseas voter applications were made on Overseas Voter Registration Day and the following day. In comparison, there were just over 650 applications on the equivalent two days of the previous week. We will be including a full assessment of the overseas registration campaign in our post-election report.

Prime Minister

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Prime Minister, whether he carried out due diligence before recommending the appointment of Lord Green to the House of Lords in September 2010.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) on 11 February 2015, Official Report, columns 774-775.

Ministry of Defence

Joint Cyber Reserve

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 10 December 2014 to Questions 217147 and 217149, for what reasons providing the number of people recruited to the Cyber Reserve may undermine national security.

Mr Julian Brazier: We are significantly growing the number of dedicated Cyber experts in the Ministry of Defence but, like other sensitive Defence capabilities, revealing details such as the number of recruits would indicate capability to our adversaries - possibly helping them to degrade or counter that capability. Recruiting is comfortably on track to deliver the cyber reserve by April 2017.

Armed Forces: Pay

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, at what rate Accelerated Incremental Progression payments have been made in each year since 2010.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces have had to repay money as a result of errors in Accelerated Incremental Progression payments in each year since 2010.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what method his Department uses to calculate money owed by members of the armed forces as a result of errors in Accelerated Incremental Progression payments.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what provisions are in place to ensure that service personnel receive adequate notice when they owe money because of errors in Accelerated Incremental Progression payments.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been overpaid after they applied for accelerated incremental progression payments; how much has been overpaid; how much will have to be paid back by service personnel; what the average amount to be repaid by a serviceman or woman is; and by what date such repayments must be made.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of forgiving debt owed by service personnel who applied for accelerated incremental progression.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department has given to service personnel who have been overpaid because they applied for an accelerated incremental progression; when the guidelines for who was eligible for such payments were changed to invalidate the extra pay; how many people applied for such payments before the guidance in Joint Service Publication 754 was changed; and who was responsible for changing that guidance.

Anna Soubry: Accelerated Incremental Progression (AIP) allows a Service person an immediate progression in their pay level as a result of a work-related course or a qualification. Each individual can qualify and claim for two AIPs during their career, at a point of their choosing. Our Service personnel do a difficult job and it is important they receive accurate pay for the hard work they do. While the majority of awards are made correctly, misinterpretation of the published qualifying criteria for AIP has resulted in some individuals receiving an incorrect award. Unfortunately, payment errors occur occasionally. We obviously regret such occurrences. It is right that we correct identified errors and ask for repayment of monies wrongly received. Allowing individuals to keep money that they are not entitled to would be unfair to both taxpayers and other Service personnel who did not receive this payment. It would also be inconsistent with HM Treasury instructions on the management of public money. If an individual overpayment to a Service person is equal to or less than four days’ gross pay then the full sum is recovered, without notification, from the next monthly salary payment. For overpayments greater than four days’ gross pay, a notification is made on the next available monthly payslip that a debt has been incurred. Recovery action is then scheduled after two subsequent pay periods, and any overpayments recovered are made at no more than four days’ gross pay per month. Service personnel who wish to challenge the reason for any recovery of an overpayment may submit a case through their Chain of Command to Defence Business Services.　In addition, processes are in place for Service personnel: to agree to pay back any overpayment over a shorter period; to make a formal objection against recovery on hardship or other grounds and; to argue that the debt be written off or repaid over a longer period. All recoveries are postponed while casework or objections are being considered. Errors in the payment of AIP are dealt with in the same way as any other payment error - the account is corrected and any overpayment recovered. The calculation of money owed is simply the difference between what has been paid and what should have been paid had the error not occurred. AIP does not occur at a particular rate or have a defined cash value. Courses and qualifications which are eligible for AIP payments are listed in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 754 (Tri-Service Regulations for Pay and Charges), which is updated biannually as required to meet Service manning requirements. The single Services are responsible for decisions on which courses or qualifications should qualify for AIP payments. It is not possible to quantify the number of people who may have erroneously applied for AIP payments on the basis of the criteria relevant to any particular edition of this JSP. Overpayments can occur for a number of reasons which do not necessarily arise from changes to eligibility criteria set out in JSP 754, although erroneous claims for courses which are no longer eligible can be a factor. Information about the number of Service personnel who have repaid money as a result of AIP payment errors since 2010 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, our records indicate that 488 Army personnel who received erroneous AIP payments have repaid or are making repayments and 423 Royal Navy personnel who received an overpayment through the misapplication of Qualification Points have repaid or are making repayments. Additionally, approximately 1,500 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel have been identified as having received erroneous AIP payments, which are required to be repaid; this represents 15% of all RAF AIP payments made. The total that has been overpaid and which is being paid back is in the region of £3.1 million. Each Service person or ex-Service person is required to repay the amount owed. As described above, each case may be subject to challenges and objections. The average amount to be repaid per person is in the region of £1,285 and the date by which payment must be paid varies according to the specific circumstances of each case.

Armed Forces: Sikhs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date his Department expects to receive the recommendations of the Chief of the General Staff on whether the British Army should form a Sikh regiment; and what criteria will be used to take a decision on that matter.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Army is committed to recruiting from all sections of society. It is actively engaged with Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnic Groups, including the Sikh community, as well as other groups which represent the demography of the UK and employs a range of measures to maximise its talent and ensure that it better reflects the society from which it recruits.Proposals designed to achieve these goals are looked at in detail to establish their feasibility and whether they can be incorporated into its overall engagement strategy. We hope to have this work completed by the summer.Of course, we are required to comply with current anti-discrimination legislation whereby the Armed Forces must ensure that service is open to all, regardless of race or religion. The only exception to this is service in the Brigade of Ghurkhas, where this is permitted under the Race Relations Act (now subsumed by the Equalities Act).

Armed Forces: Information Warfare

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Reservists have been recruited to the 77th Brigade of the Army; and what target his Department has set for the proportion of that Brigade to be made up of Reservists.

Mr Julian Brazier: As the reorganisation of this formation is taking place, we do not yet have any figures for recruitment but at 1 January 2015, there were 160 members of the Army Reserve (Group A) in the Units that make up the 77th Brigade.We intend to expand the number of Reservists to 235, some 53% of the total.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Squirrel HT1/HT2, (b) T67M-2 Firefly, (c) Grob 115 Tutor, (d) Viking, (e) Vigilant, (f) AW139, (g) A109 Power, (h) Sea King HAS6, (i) Sea King HU5, (j) Merlin HM1, (k) Merlin MH2, (l) Sea King ASaC7, (m) Sea King HC4, (n) Sea King HC6CR, (o) Lynx HAS3, (p) Lynx HMA8, (q) Wildcat HMA2, (r) Hawk, (s) Grob 115 Heron, (t) Dauphin, (u) King Air, (v) Islander AL1, (w) Defender 4S AL2, (x) Defender T3, (y) Lynx AH7 and (z) Lynx AH9A are in (i) the forward fleet, (ii) sustainment and (iii) storage.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Typhoon, (b) Tornado GR4/4A, (c) F-35B, (d) Sentry AEW1, (e) Sentinel R1 ASTOR, (f) Shadow R.1, (g) Islander CC2/CC2A, (h) MQ-9 Predator B, (i) RC-135 Rivet Joint, (j) A330 FSTA, (k) Hercules, (l) C-17 Globemaster, (m) A400M, (n) HS125 CC3, (o) BAe 146 CC2, (p) Chinook HC4, (q) Chinook HC5, (r) Chinook HC6, (s) Merlin HC3, (t) Merlin HC3A ex RDAF, (u) Puma HC2/SA330 Puma, (v) Sea King HAR3/A, (w) A109 Power, (x) Griffin HC2, (y) S-61N, (z) AW189, (aa) Hawk T1/T1A, (bb) Hawk T2, (cc) Tucano T1, (dd) King Air, (ee) Griffin HT1 are in (i) the forward fleet, (ii) sustainment and (iii) storage.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Apache AH1, (b) Gazelle AH1, (c) AS365N3 Dauphin, (d) Bell 212, (e) Lynx Wildcat, (f) Squirrel HT1/HT2 and (g) Watchkeeper 450 are in (i) the forward fleet, (ii) sustainment and (iii) storage.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Afghanistan

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will launch an inquiry into the conduct of the war in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the target time is from the point of application for people with (a) cancer and (b) motor neurone disease to receive their benefit entitlement under the special rules for terminal illness.

Mr Mark Harper: Holding answer received on 26 February 2015



 I refer my Hon. Member to the reply given by the Department to his previous question number 223035, Official Report 09 February 2015.

Jobseeker's Allowance: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received jobseeker's allowance (a) within three weeks of applying and (b) three weeks or longer after applying in (i) Barnsley East constituency, (ii) Barnsley local authority area and (iii) South Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Esther McVey: This information requested is not available. The Department for Work and Pensions aims to transform people’s lives by helping them find and remain in work and to ensure work pays. The effectiveness of Benefit Centres is monitored by a suite of measures to track and manage the range of benefits it administers. This includes Cabinet Office's Structural Reform Plan and the internal Performance Environment. The Department regularly publishes information on a number of key areas of performance; these are included in our Transparency Indicators page, the DWP Mid year review which was published in December 2014 and the Annual Reports and Accounts. There has been an increase in the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims being cleared within 10 days of 19.4 percentage points, from 70.8% in March 2010 to 90.2% in March 2014. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-business-plan-transparency-measures/dwp-business-plan-transparency-measures DWP mid-year report April 2014 to September 2014 - Publications - GOV.UK DWP annual report and accounts 2013 to 2014 - Publications - GOV.UK

Training

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is provided for frontline staff of his Department on working with people with mental health issues.

Esther McVey: DWP Frontline staff are trained in the skills required to support a range of claimants and to respect their individual needs. This ensures they are skilled to deal with a diverse set of circumstances including those with mental ill health, whilst recognising the need to treat everyone as individuals. Frontline advisers have a comprehensive and progressive training programme which is regularly reviewed. This learning focuses on raising awareness of the individual’s personal circumstances, including disabilities and health conditions which can affect individuals in different ways. Within the learning, frontline advisers are also signposted to further guidance and specialist sources of information.

Social Security Benefits

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what value of interim payments have been made to people affected by sanctions or delays in benefit payments.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral Answer of 8 December 2014, Official Report, column 638, what steps he has taken to raise awareness of interim payments for people affected by sanctions or delays in benefit payments.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 02 March 2015



Hardship Payments may be available to claimants who have been sanctioned. We strengthened guidance for work coaches in July 2014 and sped up the payment process so that all sanctioned claimants are informed about how and when they can make an application for a Hardship Payment and can receive payment swiftly. We plan to publish statistical information on Hardship Payments in Summer 2015.   Short Term Benefit Advances (STBAs) replaced Crisis Loan Alignment Payments and Interim Payments of benefit in April 2013.   There has been an increase in the number of Jobseekers Allowance claims being cleared within 10 days of 19.4 percentage points, from 70.8% in March 2010 to 90.2% in March 2014. Most benefits are paid in arrears and STBAs can help tide over claimants who qualify until their first benefit payment. This is not the same as “benefit delays” and, therefore, we do not collect such data.   As the Secretary of State announced in his oral answer (Official Report, 8 December 2014, column 633), more information will be provided to claimants about STBAs online and in Jobcentres. And staff guidance will be updated and staff reminded of the process for considering an STBA.   The department has already undertaken testing of the posters and messaging with a small number of staff and claimants and the designs have now been reviewed by the Social Security Advisory Committee.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the procedures for notifying his Department of a change of circumstances in the event of hospitalisation when the claimant is incapacitated and unable to contact the Disability Benefits helpline.

Mr Mark Harper: Holding answer received on 02 March 2015



 The Department has reviewed its procedures for notifying hospital admissions when the customer is incapacitated and unable to contact us themselves. We have taken account of the fact that there is no reduction in the Benefit paid for the first twenty eight days following admission, where there has been no previous hospitalisation within the preceding twenty eight days. Also, measures are in place so that the report of the hospital admission may be taken from another person, on the customer’s behalf. We have concluded that the procedures already in place are satisfactory.

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many first contact notice of closure letters have been sent to (a) Segment 1 and (b) Segment 2 CSA cases in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The table below shows the total number of segment 1 first contact notice of closure letters that have been sent up to the 21 February 2015. Management information regarding segment 2 letters is not yet available as it is currently under development and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.  Number of Letters sentTotal345,900England278,700Scotland30,800Wales21,000Northern Ireland500Other14,900 Notes: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.Numbers include Proactive and Reactive case closure letters.Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care or Non Resident Parent lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED).Cases included in the ‘Other’ category are cases where the Parent with Care or Non Resident Parent has moved abroad, or where the area of the Parent with Care or Non Resident Parent is not available on the management information.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Work Programme providers on the development of their workforce.

Esther McVey: Work Programme providers are contractually committed to raising standards and they are expected to build and maintain a culture of improvement through continuous self-assessment and planning for improvement. As part of the self-assessment providers must ensure their staff develop skills and expertise to meet the needs of participants. The Department’s Performance Manager’s will discuss staffing issues with providers as part of their regular performance management meetings. The independent Work Programme Building Best Practice Group report (published 18 December 2014), recommended that the department continued to support the Institute of Employability Professionals ‘what works’ workshops, in which front-line advisers from different providers meet and share knowledge and best practice in supporting claimant groups. The Department fully accepted this recommendation and will continue to promote these workshops.

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is offered to Jobcentre Plus staff to enable them to better work with (a) lone parents and (b) ethnic minority jobseekers.

Esther McVey: The training delivered to Jobcentre staff ensures they have the capability to support a range of customers/claimants, it teaches them to respect the individual needs of Jobseekers whether these are lone parents or from an ethnic minority background. This approach ensures that staff are equipped to deal with a diverse set of circumstances whilst treating all Jobseekers as individuals. All staff receive ‘foundation learning’ which covers excellent customer service, diversity and claimants’ needs and stresses the importance of looking for signs where additional support may be required. Jobcentre Work Coaches have access to an on-going, comprehensive learning programme that focuses on raising awareness of the Jobseekers personal circumstances. This learning recognises that irrespective of whether the Jobseeker is a lone parent or from an ethnic minority (or both) it can affect them in different ways. To complement this approach other more specific products are available to staff, for example, Helping Parents into Work and Skills Screening - the process by which potential skills needs in relation to claimants’ job goals, or available jobs in the local labour market, are identified.Both are useful when supporting lone parents and ethnic minority Jobseekers. Overall the learning offered places a greater emphasis on the need for personalisation and flexibility which enables the Work Coaches to build strong relationships with all Jobseekers and Jobcentre staff will complete this learning programme.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent through the Work Programme on (a) attachment payments, (b) job outcome and (c) sustainment payments in Contract Package Areas 12 and 13 since June 2011.

Esther McVey: The information cannot be released for publication, as public knowledge of individual contract payments at contract package level would impact on the Department’s ability to negotiate competitive prices in future contract periods and risk some of the Commercial in confidence elements of the Department’s Contracts.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were referred to the Work Programme by Jobcentre Plus but not subsequently attached to the programme in each month since June 2011.

Esther McVey: The information we have, on the number of Work Programme referrals by current Work Programme status, in each month since June 2011, is published and can be found at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html Guidance for users is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dangerous Dogs Exemptions Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the Dangerous Dogs Exemptions Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015 does not give full effect to the court's ruling in R (Sandhin) v Isleworth Crown Court; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Dangerous dogs law is concerned with protecting the safety of the public. The Dangerous Dogs Exemption Schemes (England and Wales) Order 2015 reflects the amendments made by section 107 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The intention is to remedy the situation created by the High Court decision in R (Sandhu) v Isleworth Crown Court [2012]. The 2015 Order returns the position on ownership of four types of prohibited dogs broadly to where it was before that judgment. The four types of dog are prohibited because they are of a type bred for fighting. The 2015 Order requires a court, when considering whether to exempt a prohibited dog, to take into account whether the intended keeper is a “fit and proper person” and other matters such as suitability of accommodation.   The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 states that no person shall give away, sell, or exchange a prohibited dog. The Sandhu judgment was seen as allowing keepership of exempted prohibited dogs to be transferred to anyone else by the owner with no supervision by the courts or by the Index of Exempted Dogs (which maintains a register of exempted prohibited dogs and liaises with the police.) The 2015 Order prevents exempted prohibited dogs from being transferred in such a way but allows change of keepership where the existing owner has died or has become seriously ill.

Ritual Slaughter

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to prevent non-stun slaughter of animals.

George Eustice: The Government has no plans to ban non-stun religious slaughter. The Government would prefer that all animals are stunned before slaughter, but it recognises the importance which Jewish and Muslim communities attach to the right to slaughter animals for food in accordance with their beliefs.

Climate Change

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the correspondence between the Committee on Climate Change and her Department on that Committee's second Climate Change Risk Assessment from 6 May 2010 to date.

Dan Rogerson: Defra regularly communicates with the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) on a number of UK climate change adaptation issues, including commissioning and advising on the development of the second Climate Change Risk Assessment Evidence Report through the ASC-chaired CCRA Advisory Group. The Evidence Report is due to be delivered to Government by July 2016. The CCRA report itself will be presented to Parliament in January 2017. Details on the Evidence Report are accessible on the CCC website.

Agriculture

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the annual increase in total factor productivity in the agriculture sector was in each year since 1995.

George Eustice: The table below shows the change in total factor productivity for UK agriculture each year from 1995 to 2013. Over this 18 year period total factor productivity in the UK increased by 15.8%. The effects of the poor weather in 2012 also impacted on the 2013 level of total factor productivity, as autumn planting for wheat and oilseed rape were down and the lack of forage crops produced in 2012 led to increased volumes of animal feed used in 2013. The estimate for 2014 is due to be published at the end of April 2015.   Total factor productivity in the United Kingdom 1995 to 2013   YearTotal factor productivity index (1995=100)Change from previous year1995100.0 199698.8-1.2%1997100.31.5%1998102.92.6%1999107.54.5%2000110.22.5%2001108.1-1.9%2002114.76.1%2003115.10.3%2004115.40.3%2005119.33.4%2006118.2-0.9%2007116.1-1.8%2008120.63.9%2009117.4-2.7%2010117.1-0.2%2011120.63.0%2012116.1-3.8%2013115.8-0.2%

Department for Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing: Greater London

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated for the building of affordable housing in London in each year from May 2010 to May 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 08 January 2015



Government funding for affordable housing in London is as follows: 2010-11: £1.1 billion (outturn), 2011-12: £712 million (outturn), 2012-13: £400 million (budget), 2013-14: £392 million (budget); 2014-15: £516 million (budget). However, this understates the total expenditure on affordable housing in this Parliament. Across England, our affordable housing programme in 2011-15 is delivering £19.5 billion of public and private investment in affordable housing; a quarter of the housing is being provided in London. Total expenditure on housing in the next Parliament will be a matter for the next Spending Review. In that context, I cannot give a precise figure for how much funding will be allocated from 2016-17 onwards: spending from 2016 to 2019 will ultimately be a matter for the next Parliament. We have put in train an affordable housing programme for London with £1.27 billion of government funding across 2015-18. We have intentionally front-loaded this programme, resulting in an indicative profile of funding of 2015-16: £745 million, 2016-17: £356 million, 2017-18: £169 million. Again, the grant funding understates the total anticipated expenditure on affordable housing. We project that we can deliver a total of 275,000 new affordable homes across England in 2015-20, levering in £38 billion of public and private investment. London’s allocation has not been finalised, but again, it will be a sizeable proportion to reflect its population share. On 20 February 2015, the Government announced a package of proposals to boost housing and regeneration in London. There will no doubt be further announcements relating to housing investment in London in due course for the years ahead, which this answer by definition cannot illustrate at this point in time. Following the Localism Act, since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London, and therefore, this will also be influenced by the local policies taken forward by the Mayor.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: Holding answer received on 22 January 2015



My Department has reduced staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14, an ongoing saving of £123 million a year.There is and remains a need to replace staff from general turnover and where we need specific technical skills. We are committed to open recruitment, so we can obtain individual staff with the best expertise from the private sector, the voluntary sector and other parts of the public sector. The total sums spent on recruitment agencies are as follows: 2010-11£27,7872011-12£13,2012012-13£9,9742013-14£16,9462014-15Zero These figures exclude public appointments and Cabinet Office recruitment but are inclusive of VAT. We have not made any such outplacement agencies fees in the last five years. This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers' money and improve overall quality of the training provision. My answer of 24 February 2015, Question 224508, outlined the spending in each full financial year from 2008-09 onwards.

Employment Agencies

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff in his Department were recruited through employment or recruitment agencies in each year since 2010-11.

Kris Hopkins: In each of the years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, two staff were directly recruited by the Department via an employment or recruitment agency. No staff have been directly recruited to date in 2014-15. These figures exclude public appointments and Cabinet Office recruitment. I would note that my previous answer of 2 February 2015, Question 222078, on the number of agencies used, included the recruitment of one public appointment in 2013-14. My Department has reduced staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14. There is and remains a need to replace staff from general turnover and where we need specific technical skills. We are committed to open recruitment, so we can obtain individual staff with the best expertise from the private sector, the voluntary sector and other parts of the public sector.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Kris Hopkins: This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers' money and improve overall quality of the training provision. Civil Service Learning was established in April 2011 in response to a wide ranging review of the delivery of training across the Civil Service. The new model is delivering better value out of its investment in training, reducing duplication in procurement and making greater use of the external market to provide the training which the Civil Service requires. Budgets were £670,000 in 2011-12, £991,000 in 2012-13 and £930,000 in 2013-14. Outturn spending came in under budget, thanks to the efficiencies we have delivered. This budget compares to outturn spending of £2.1 million in 2008-09 and £2.3 million in 2009-10. I would also observe that my Department has reduced total staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14.

Local Government Finance: Croydon

Sir Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the London Borough of Croydon received in total government grant in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: In 2014-15, the London Borough of Croydon is forecast to receive £428 million in government grants, excluding mandatory housing benefits, equivalent to £2,877 per dwelling. Including mandatory housing benefits, the forecast is £693 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). The Greater London Authority also delivers services (police, fire, transport, strategic housing and planning) in Croydon, and is forecast to receive £4.5 billion in government grants in 2014-15, equivalent to £1,311 per dwelling. Taken together, this is equivalent to £4,189 per dwelling in Croydon. Leaving aside education spending which has changed due to the funding shift from local authorities to academies directly, in 2014-15 Croydon’s net current expenditure excluding education is forecast to be £546 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). This compares with £490 million in 2009-10 (source: Revenue Outturn returns). This represents an 11 per cent increase in cash terms. It has been brought to my attention that the Council has put up posters on council-owned billboards asserting: “Government is cutting its funding to you by £100 million over the next three years”. This is factually incorrect, given no decisions have been made on local government funding beyond 2015-16. Moreover, such polemical publicity is not only potentially contrary to the provisions of the local government Publicity Code, but is in itself a waste of money – the Council could be using its advertising space to sell commercial advertising and generate revenue to support frontline services, rather than peddle political messages.

Rural Areas: West Midlands

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect (a) green belt and (b) open green spaces in (i) Dudley, (ii) the Black Country and (iii) the West Midlands.

Brandon Lewis: As pledged in the Collation Agreement, this Government has safeguarded national Green Belt protection and increased protection of important green spaces. We have abolished the Labour Government’s top-down Regional Strategies which sought to delete the Green Belt in and around 30 towns and cities. I would note that the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy Phase Two Revision Report of the Panel published by the Government Office for the West Midlands in September 2009, was pushing for a number of adverse changes to Green Belt protection – that no doubt would have been implemented had the Labour Government not been ejected from office in 2010. I also observe that the hon. Member was a DCLG Minister and the ‘Regional Minister for the West Midlands’ at the time of that Government-issued report. We have also:   Introduced a new Local Green Space planning designation, which allows councils to give added protection to valuable local green spaces;   Published the National Planning Policy Framework which re-affirms Green Belt protection;   Given councils stronger powers to tackle ‘garden grabbing’, and stopped gardens being classified as brownfield land;   Issued new waste planning policy which increases protection of the Green Belt;   Published planning guidance which re-affirms the importance of the Green Belt during Local Plan preparation; and   Consulted on proposed changes to planning policy on traveller sites to further increase Green Belt safeguards.

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release Pickles cuts stealth taxes on new homes and boosts small builders, published on 28 November 2014, if he will publish the business cases for each element of the initiatives announced in that press release.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 25 February 2015



I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 12 February 2015, Questions 223173 and 223176. We announced in December that we are setting aside £25 million of the Builders Finance Fund, specifically to provide loans to schemes of between 5 – 14 units in size to better support smaller builders. We published a revised prospectus in January which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/builders-finance-fund-prospectus.

Fire Services

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many serving firefighters have served in that capacity for over 40 years.

Penny Mordaunt: This information is not held centrally.

Fire Services: Medals

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made in discussion with the Honours and Decorations Committee and the Cabinet Office on introducing a further medal or bar to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for firefighters that far exceed 20 years' service.

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many firefighters have been awarded a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt: The viability of awarding firefighters for service beyond the existing 20 years is currently being investigated by my Department. There are processes which need to be followed prior to discussion with the Honours and Decorations Committee taking place but officials are progressing the issue and will be in touch with the Committee in due course. The number of medals awarded to firefighters in each of the last five year are as follows:2010 - 1,7372011 - 1,465 2012 - 1,011 2013 - 1,246 2014 - 1,147 These figures do not include Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales

Property Development: Portsmouth

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will investigate options for helping Portsmouth City Council to purchase the land at the St James' Hospital site in Milton.

Brandon Lewis: The St James's Hospital site in Milton is owned by NHS Property Services and has been identified as surplus. The Homes and Communities Agency are working with Portsmouth City Council and NHS Property Services to identify options for the future of this site that will deliver benefits to the local community.

Wales Office

*No heading*

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the First Minister on promoting exports by Welsh businesses.

Stephen Crabb: Welsh exports have increased by almost a third since the beginning of 2010, a clear demonstration of the success of this Government’s long-term economic plan to rebalance the Welsh economy.I welcome the Welsh Government’s move to work more collaboratively with the UK Government on exports, and the First Minister’s recognition of the vital and important role the UKTI plays.

*No heading*

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the effects on Wales of the Government's long-term economic plan.

Stephen Crabb: Tackling the deficit and rebalancing the economy are at the heart of our long-term economic plan, to ensure that more wealth is distributed more fairly across the UK, including to Wales.The UK is the fastest growing major economy in the world, and Wales is the fastest growing part of the UK. Following thirteen years of Labour mismanagement, we are taking decisive action to protect the economy and deliver a more secure economic future for Wales.

*No heading*

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of trends in the rate of child poverty in Wales since 2010.

Stephen Crabb: We are working collaboratively with the Welsh Government to eradicate child poverty in Wales and tackle its root causes.

HM Treasury

Sports: Taxation

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times his Department has introduced special tax arrangements to support a major sporting event since May 2010.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has supported a wide range of sporting events held in the UK, including by providing specific tax exemptions for overseas sportspersons competing in the following events: Champions League final (2011)Olympic & Paralympic games (2012)London Anniversary Games (2013)Champions League final (2013)Glasgow Commonwealth Games (2014)Glasgow Athletics Grand Prix (2014)

HSBC

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Ministers in his Department discussed allegations of money laundering at HSBC with Lord Green during his time as Minister for Trade and Investment.

Mr David Gauke: Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with their counterparts in other departments throughout Whitehall. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings and representations.

Employee Ownership

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of participants in the Employee Shareholder Status scheme in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow city region, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses are participating in the Employee Shareholder Status scheme in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow City Region, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Mr David Gauke: No details or estimates of the number of businesses or employees using the Employee Shareholder status within geographical regions or nationally are currently available.

Revenue and Customs: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff employed at the Tax Credit Office in Preston are currently paid (a) more and (b) less than the living wage.

Priti Patel: As at 31 January 2015, HMRC employed a total of 2044 staff within its Preston Tax Credit Office site. At that date there were no staff employed at the Tax Credit Office in Preston paid less than the living wage.

Air Passenger Duty: Northern Ireland

Ian Paisley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to devolve air passenger duty to the Northern Ireland Executive; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The rates of air passenger duty for all direct long-haul flights departing from Northern Ireland airports have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly Government. The Assembly Government has set these rates to zero.   Any further devolution of APD to Northern Ireland, as a means to achieve a reduction in rates, would need to be funded by the Executive, in order to protect the public finances and comply with EU state aid rules.   The Government is exempting children from air passenger duty and abolishing the two highest band C and D rates charged on connected long-haul flights departing from Northern Ireland. For further information I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 January 2015 to Question UIN 220598.

Renewable Energy: Tax Allowances

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from community energy co-operatives on the decision to remove their entitlement to Enterprise Investment Scheme tax relief.

Mr David Gauke: The government ran a consultation exercise between July 2014 and September 2014 on the impact of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes and a further consultation exercise on the Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR). Both consultations sought views on the importance of eligibility for tax reliefs under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Venture Capital Trust scheme (VCTs) and SITR for community energy groups.There were 25 respondents to the question in the SITR consultation, and 32 respondents in the tax-advantaged venture capital consultation. These included responses from community energy co-operatives and wider representative groups.The government remains committed to supporting local energy schemes and continues to offer grant and loan development support through programmes such as the Rural Community Energy Fund, the Urban Community Energy Fund and the Green Investment Bank. Furthermore, the Autumn Statement 2014 announced that qualifying local community energy schemes will be eligible for an expanded SITR

Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many mandatory reconsiderations have been requested for tax credit claims; how many of those requests have been successful; and how long on average it takes to process each such request.

Mr David Gauke: HMRC has revised the appeals process, in order to align it with that of DWP in advance of the migration of tax credits claimants to Universal Credit. Since 6 April 2014, there has been a new stage in the process called mandatory reconsideration (MR). Now if a claimant disagrees with an HMRC tax credit decision, they are required to ask HMRC to look at its decision again and revise it where appropriate. This change was introduced to enable more disputes to be resolved as early as possible in the decision making process.   Mandatory reconsideration was introduced on 6 April 2014. Annual figures for 2014/15 are not yet available.

Small Businesses: Taxation

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many section 660a status enquiries HM Revenue and Customs has made in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not make ‘status enquiries’ under section 660A ICTA 1988 and its successor legislation in Part 5, Chapter 5 ITTOIA 2005.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: VAT

Katy Clark: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service eligible for VAT refunds.

Mr David Gauke: There are no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make Scottish Fire and Rescue Service eligible for VAT refunds.In 2011 the Scottish Government were explicitly advised of this potential consequence of changing from regional fire and police forces to single authorities as part of the proposed revised funding model for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland. At the time they took the decision to make these reforms they would have known they would no longer be eligible for the VAT refunds as a result.

HSBC

John Mann: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what dates special advisers in his Department have sent emails that refer to HSBC in the last five years.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost

Minimum Wage

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers were fined for not paying their employees the national minimum wage in 2013-14.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously and has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.   I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 205613 for details of penalties issued.

Inheritance Tax

Mr David Blunkett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Questions 223142 and 223143, when he expects to publish the breakdown of the estimated numbers of deaths resulting in inheritance tax liabilities by Westminster parliamentary constituencies for years later than 2011-12.

Mr David Gauke: Updates to Table 12-12 of the Inheritance Tax Official Statistics covering estimated numbers of deaths resulting in Inheritance Tax liabilities for Westminster parliamentary constituencies are published annually at the end of July each year. The July 2015 update will include the estimated number of deaths resulting in Inheritance Tax liabilities in 2012-13.

Child Benefit

Helen Goodman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families were paid child benefit for (a) one child, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four children or more in the last year for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average value was of child benefit received by families with (a) one child, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four children or more in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke: The information can be found on Table 3 of the publication ‘Child Benefit Geographical Analysis Aug 2014’ are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407549/Child_Benefit_Geographical_Statistics_Aug_2014_formatted.xls. This publication provides figures accurate as at August 2014 and are the most recent available. Weekly rates have been stated as the average rate of Child Benefit as, as this is a fixed rate award, all recipient families with the same number of children will receive the same rate.   The amount of Child Benefit received is therefore determined by the number of children in a family. Currently, families will receive £20.50 per week for the eldest child and £13.55 for each subsequent child. These rates are fixed until April 2015.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy Supply

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the projected number of years of active energy production available through the use of (a) nuclear power stations, (b) offshore wind turbines, (c) onshore wind turbines, (d) coal-powered power stations, (e) gas-powered power stations, (f) solar-powered farms, (g) tidal power lagoons, (h) biomass stations and (i) anaerobic digesters.

Amber Rudd: DECC’s most recently published figures for levelised costs contains information on the operating duration of selected electricity generation for technologies. These are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 214542, if he will place a copy of research referred to in that Answer in the Library.

Amber Rudd: Information about suppliers’ charges if an incoming customer wants to switch from a prepayment meter to a credit meter and the approach to security deposits are available from the individual company’s website or customer service team.

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 214565, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of households which meet the criteria of the Affordable Warmth Group which is in fuel poverty.

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 214565, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of fuel poor households which meets the criteria of the Affordable Warmth Group.

Amber Rudd: Eligibility criteria for ECO were adopted before the Low Income High Cost indicator, now used for measuring fuel poverty, came into use.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of domestic customers who are on their supplier's standard tariff.

Amber Rudd: DECC estimate, from our Domestic Fuels Inquiry, that 71 per cent of gas customers and 73 per cent of electricity customers were on their supplier’s standard variable rate tariffs. These percentages include those on standard variable rates who receive dual fuel or online discounts. This survey does not cover most of the independent suppliers.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding has been allocated to the power to switch campaign.

Amber Rudd: Final spends are not yet available.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for how long the power to switch campaign will run.

Amber Rudd: The Campaign is running for a period of 5 weeks up till 21 March 2015.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution by the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye of 14 January 2015, Official Report, column 932, on energy prices, what the evidential basis is for the statement that customers would be £100 a year worse off if prices had been frozen in October 2013.

Amber Rudd: Using average annual consumption of 3,200kW/h per year for electricity and 13,500kW/h per year for gas, the annual cost of the cheapest deal on the market (in London) was £913 on the 15 January 2015. DECC estimate that this is around £100 lower than the cheapest deal a year earlier.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of 14 January 2015, Official Report, column 904, on energy prices, what the evidential basis is for the statement that switching rates have fallen because of the end of doorstep selling.

Amber Rudd: New rules to tighten up doorstep sales practices were introduced in 2009 and investigations into the doorstep selling practices of larger suppliers were launched by Ofgem, with the larger suppliers’ voluntarily ceasing doorstep selling from 2011/ 2012.The time series data DECC publishes on switching [1] shows a downward trend following the cessation of doorstep sales.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-switching-statistics

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average domestic (a) electricity and (b) gas bill was in each quarter in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014 and (iii) in quarter 1, 2015.

Amber Rudd: DECC publish energy bills on an annual basis. Bills for 2013 and provisional estimates of bills in 2014 are published in Quarterly Energy Prices (QEP) available on the DECC web site (table 2.2.1 for electricity and table 2.3.1 for gas). Energy price indices are published monthly by the Office for National Statistics and republished by DECC within QEP, with quarterly data available in table 2.1.3.

Fuel Poverty: Scotland

Mr Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many and what proportion of people in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are classed as living in fuel poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: Fuel poverty is largely devolved. For instance, Scotland has its own fuel poverty target and fuel poverty indicator. In Scotland, fuel poverty is measured using the 10 per cent definition.Fuel poverty is measured at the household level rather than the individual level. Based on the Scottish Housing Condition Survey Local Authority Analysis 2011-13, the estimated number and proportion of households in fuel poverty in the Scottish Highlands and Islands is shown in the table below.  Estimated number of fuel poor households Proportion of fuel poor households (%)Scottish Highlands and Islands101,50046.7

Ofgem

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many non-financial penalties Ofgem has imposed in each year since 2001; and what each such penalty was.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 02 March 2015



For the first time, the Energy Act 2013 gave the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA) powers to issue non-financial penalties as part of the remedial action package stemming from consumer redress orders, such as variation or termination of contracts with affected consumers, for any breaches that occur on or after 18th February 2014.In addition, GEMA has issued three Provisional Orders (one in 2010 (First Utility with respect to disconnections of customers in debt) one in 2011 (MA Energy –compliance with Energy Codes) and one in 2014 (Economy Energy – complaints handling and transfer blocking)). It has also accepted commitments on two occasions (once in 2005 (SP Manweb– delays in connections services) and once in 2012 (Electricity North West – connection charges). In 2014, Ofgem agreed sets of targets to improve customer service at Npower and Scottish Power. These cases are ongoing.

Ofgem

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many fines Ofgem has imposed in each year since 2001; and what the value was of each such fine.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 02 March 2015



The attached table sets out information on fines imposed by Ofgem using its enforcement powers since 2001. The table reflects cases where final notifications of fines have been issued and so recent notices of intention to issue penalties have not been counted.



Fines imposed by Ofgem since 2001
(Word Document, 14.63 KB)

Biofuels

Dame Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the implications of his Department's report on the Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity published in July 2014, for the life cycle assessment of the Renewable Energy Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The Department has recently tendered a research contract to assess the plausibility of scenarios in the report with the highest potential net greenhouse gas emissions occurring in the period to 2030 that result from increased demand from the UK biomass electricity sector.DECC is committed to supporting sustainably produced biomass, that delivers real greenhouse gas savings, is cost effective, takes account of wider impacts across the economy and manages possible risks such as to food security and biodiversity. The Department is seeking to bring forward proposals for mandatory sustainability requirements this year. The UK has been at the forefront of developing criteria to ensure that biomass used in energy generation is sustainable and we will have some of the toughest sustainability criteria in the world.

Wind Power

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 223251, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of households installing wind turbines.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 03 March 2015



The Feed-in-Tariff scheme (FITs) has been a considerable success since its launch in April 2010, with over 650,000 installations – more than 3.3GW of capacity – registered by the end of January 2015. Of these, 4,126 are small (below 15kW) wind turbines, with a total capacity of 32.9MW.FITs offers relatively higher tariffs (2.4p higher than larger capacity bands from April 2015) at the smaller capacity (sub-15kW) required by households in order to facilitate deployment at this scale. We have also introduced measures to encourage households to take advantage of pooled resources by deploying at the community scale. These come into effect from 1 April 2015.

Biofuels

Dame Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment has been made of the potential contribution of biomass to meeting the 2020 targets of the Climate Change Act 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: Biomass is an important part of the UK’s energy mix, playing a central, transitional role in decarbonising the electricity grid. Our support for biomass is part of our wider ambition for a mix of renewable energy sources. Our 2012 Bioenergy Strategy analysis indicated that sustainably-sourced bioenergy could contribute 8-11% to the UK’s total primary energy demand by 2020.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Procurement

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will delay implementation of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to ensure that appropriate guidance on trading companies exemptions, reserved contracts provisions, Article 18.2, best price-quality ratio provisions and the new light touch regime can be issued to contracting authorities in time for them to update procurement procedures.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 on the ability of contracting authorities to plan joint health and social care commissioning.

Mr Francis Maude: The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 came into effect on 26 February. They will enable authorities to run procurements that are faster, less costly and more effective.During 2014, the Crown Commercial Service provided training on the new directives to more than 4,000 procurement officials.Further information, including guidance and training material can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/transposing-eu-procurement-directives

Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he took into account information in files relating to HSBC and tax evasion when appointing Lord Green Trade Minister in January 2011.

Mr Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) during Prime Minister’s Questions to the Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) on 11 February 2015 to PQ907575.

Conditions of Employment: Wales

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Wales working on zero hours contracts in February (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of women in Wales working on zero hours contracts in February (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Clwyd South constituency working on zero hours contracts in February (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of women who are on zero hours contracts.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
(PDF Document, 290.98 KB)

Public Sector: Procurement

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government is making in implementating the EU Directive 2014/55/EU on invoicing in public sector procurement; what steps he has taken to ensure that all Departments will be in a position to implement the directive fully by autumn 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Francis Maude: The Government is committed to the introduction of electronic invoicing across the public sector. The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill includes clauses that will enable Ministers to make regulations on the acceptance of e-invoices by public bodies.

Epilepsy

Liz Kendall: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people (a) under and (b) over the age of 18 died of epilepsy in (i) England and (ii) the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Death from Epilepsy
(PDF Document, 204.28 KB)

Pay

Helen Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people earned an amount (a) in each bracket of £1,000 between £42,000 and £55,000 and (b) in each bracket of £10,000 over £55,000 in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Earnings
(PDF Document, 176.49 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Sports: Females

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the participation of teenage girls in out-of-school sports clubs.

Mrs Helen Grant: Sport England invests £49 million in Satellite Clubs which bring community sports clubs into schools and colleges. There are over 4,000 clubs already up and running, of which over 500 are girls-only. Sport England estimates that over 20,000 girls are now playing sport in girls-only Satellite Clubs.  Sportivate is a £56 million Sport England programme which gives 14-25 year olds (male and female), who are not particularly sporty, access to six to eight weeks of free or subsidised coaching in a range of sports. Over half a million young people have taken part in Sportivate, of which over 40 per cent were girls. Over 80 per cent of these young people successfully completed their coached sessions.

BuzzFeed

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the costs were to his Department of (a) direct payments to BuzzFeed and (b) staff time for native advertising on BuzzFeed on (i) 29 January, (ii) 9 February and (iii) 13 February 2015; from which budget this spending came from; and what account his Department took of IAB guidelines on native advertising, when placing that advertising.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Department has made no payments to Buzfeed and there was no cost to the Department. A member of the communications team wrote the editorial as part of their job. DCMS content on Buzzfeed is clearly marked as coming from the Department and Buzzfeed clearly state it is not paid for advertising.

Automation

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Question 223018, if he will assess the potential effect of increasing automation on (a) security, (b) inequality and (c) social cohesion.

Mr Edward Vaizey: I have no plans to make an assessment of the impact of automation on security, inequality or social cohesion.

Policy

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Question 223182, if he will assess the implications for his Department's policies of participation by officials in his Department in the Cross-Government Behavioural Insights Network.

Mrs Helen Grant: The purpose of the network is to share practice to inform future policy making and this is how membership is used by the DCMS.

Policy

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Question 223180, what the most recent (a) arts, (b) sports and (c) tourism initiatives were in which his Department used nudge policies.

Mrs Helen Grant: Recent examples include the use of the Cultural Gifts Scheme and other philanthropic measures to encourage cultural giving, This Girl Can to encourage women into sport and the Visa Fee Refund scheme to encourage Chinese visitors to incentivise visitors to explore areas outside London.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223688, when and in what format his Department provided information to the National Audit Office; and if he will publish all such correspondence.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Broadband Delivery UK provided the National Audit Office with extensive documentation to inform their memorandum to the Public Accounts Committee. Some of this is available on https://www.gov.uk/gosuperfast; data such as the maps and 7 digit post code data is available on the websites of the relevant local authorities and devolved administrations. The financial data is commercially sensitive and cannot be released. The NAO Memorandum is a fair summary of the material provided. It would be disproportionate to review all the documents with a view to considering if further material can be published.

Arts: Mental Health

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223736, which arts programmes his Department and arms length bodies fund that aim to reduce isolation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Government funding for the arts is distributed by Arts Council England (ACE). ACE fund several organisations that aim to tackle the problem of loneliness by encouraging people to participate in culture, including, We do in West Yorkshire; Royal Exchange in Manchester; The Courtyard Centre for the Arts in Hereford; Meet me at the Albany in south east London; and Creativity Works in north east Somerset.

Digital Technology: Dumfries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the conclusions in the publication Digital Participation in Dumfries and Kirkcaldy published in February 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Along with the rest of Government, this Department will continue to work with the Government Digital Service (GDS) to reduce digital exclusion by considering how digital inclusion can be embedded into policy areas and ensuring that online services are designed with digitally excluded users in mind.The Digital Inclusion team at GDS has now built partnerships with more than 70 public, private and third sector organisations. This includes the Carnegie Trust itself, who published the report that the Hon. Member refers to in his question. The Trust is also undertaking research that will provide a better understanding of who is digitally excluded, and what interventions stand the best chance of making a real difference. This will help target investment and energies where they are most needed.The Government is also committed to achieving superfast broadband coverage of 95% of UK premises by 2017. It is also looking at how to extend coverage to the final 5% in the hardest to reach areas beyond the current programme through an investment of £10m in pilots to test a range of coverage solutions.

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222967, whether he plans to publish his response to the Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy consultation before 10 May 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The consultation closed in October 2014. As stated in the update to the National Infrastructure Plan published in December 2014 we intend to publish our response to the consultation in 2015.

Cinemas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the level of cinema attendance was in each year since 2009-10; what forecast he has made of cinema attendance in each year to 2019-20; and what steps he is taking to support the cinema industry in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: YearCinema Admissions (millions)2009173.52010169.22011171.62012172.52013165.52014157.5 Source: BFI Statistical YearbookThere have been no forecasts made of cinema admissions, however the BFI is investing £20 million over the five years up to 2017 to develop and grow audiences across the UK and to encourage cinema-going through a range of programmes and initiatives. The BFI is also investing £26 million in its film education programme targeted at 5-19 years olds across the UK, in order to nurture the next generation of film lovers.

Public Libraries: WiFi

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Question 223124 and the Answer of 14 January 2015 to Question 220293, if he will estimate the total cost to the public purse of providing WiFi in those 2,000 libraries which offer that facility; what funding options he is exploring for providing WiFi in all public libraries; with which organisations he has discussed them contributing resources to such provision; how many libraries have free WiFi provided through the Super Connected Cities budget; and what the total cost is of that provision.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS has not made any estimate of the total cost to the public purse of providing WiFi in those 2,000 libraries which offer that facility since these have already been resourced by the relevant authorities. Funding options considered included provisions by government, private and public organisations as well as a combination of these. We have discussed our aim to enable the provision of WiFi in public libraries with a wide range of individuals and organisations including in the evidence gathering for the Independent Library Report. Over 200 libraries in England were included in the free WiFi for public buildings announcement in October 2014 though it is not possible to disaggregate the costs for these.

Department of Health

Perinatal Mortality

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many serious incident investigations have been undertaken by the NHS into incidents involving stillbirths in each year since 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is the responsibility of care providers to investigate all serious incidents that take place under their jurisdiction.   Data was extracted from the Strategic Executive Information System (STEIS)* and the table below shows that a total of 955 serious incidents involving still births were reported in England since 2010. Of these 829 are recorded as ‘closed’ following the conclusion of an investigation.   Serious incidents reported in England to the STEIS database as “Maternity Services - Intrapartum death” or “Intrauterine death” Calendar YearTotalSTEIS incident type20102011201220132014up to 25 February 2015 Maternity Services - Intrapartum death43704355544269Maternity Services - Intrauterine death6411314017118117686Total10718318322623521955   *STEIS includes two categories ‘Maternity Services - Intrapartum death’, which encompass stillbirth that appeared to have occurred intrapartum (i.e. during labour) and ‘Maternity Services - Intrauterine death’, which describes death in the womb detected before labour commenced. Extracted data describes the numbers of serious incidents reported under these categories.

NHS: Nurseries

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which mental health and acute NHS trusts in England provide nurseries for staff; how many nursery places each trust provides in each such case; and what the average cost per place, per hour is in each such trust.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not collect information in respect of whether mental health or acute trusts provide nurseries for their staff. As employers are responsible for their workforce, it would be for these trusts to decide, in conjunction with their staff, whether to provide nursery facilities.

Obesity: Children

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the level of childhood obesity.

Jane Ellison: We have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions to tackle child obesity. These include working with a wide range of partners including Public Health England and NHS England, and through a voluntary approach with industry. Key initiatives include Change4Life, the National Child Measurement Programme, Change4Life Sports Clubs, School Sports Funding and the School Food Plan.   Through our voluntary approach with the food and drink industry, we have cut billions of calories from soft drinks and we have made it easier to see how much sugar is in soft drinks with our colour coded front of pack nutrition labelling.   The actions we are taking are delivering results with obesity rates in children levelling off.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects his Department to be in a position to make a decision on HPV vaccination for adolescent boys.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters including human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination. JCVI has set up a HPV sub-committee which is giving consideration to work modelling the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending HPV vaccination to adolescent boys.   It is anticipated that a model being developed at Warwick University could be presented to the sub-committee in the second half of this year. A separate model being developed by Public Health England may not now be completed until early 2017. JCVI and its HPV sub-committee may need to consider both studies before taking a final view on the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending HPV vaccination to adolescent boys and may therefore not be in a position to do so before early 2017.   Any implementation of an HPV boys vaccination programme will be dependent on JCVI’s final advice.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward the timeline for the review and recommendation in respect of the introduction of a universal HPV vaccination programme.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters including human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.   HPV is currently recommended for adolescent girls aged 12-13 years.   The JCVI is currently considering possible extension to the programme, including to men who have sex with men (MSM) and adolescent boys. The JCVI is not considering a universal HPV vaccination programme.   Detailed cost effectiveness analysis is required to fully understand the potential benefits of any proposals. It is essential that the JCVI does its work thoroughly and comprehensively before finalising its advice to the Government.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects a decision to be made on introducing HPV vaccinations for men who have sex with men.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters agreed at its October meeting that further consultation was needed with stakeholders before finalising its advice to Ministers on the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination of men who have sex with men (MSM). It held a stakeholder consultation between 12 November and 7 January and we understand that JCVI considered the outcome of the consultation at its meeting on 4 February 2015, as it reviewed its provisional advice on MSM.   Any implementation of an HPV MSM vaccination programme will be dependent on JCVI’s final advice. We look forward to receiving JCVI’s final advice in due course.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason Public Health England is undertaking additional cost effectiveness modelling for the HPV vaccine and adolescent boys.

Jane Ellison: In 2008 when forming its recommendation for vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) in the United Kingdom the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) did not recommend vaccination of boys because the evidence from modelling undertaken by the Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England (PHE)) indicated vaccinating boys was unlikely to be cost-effective (Jit et al., 2008).   JCVI keeps the eligibility criteria of all vaccination programmes under review. In October 2013 JCVI recommended a HPV sub-committee be formed to consider a number of issues including the potential extension of the programme to include adolescent boys, because of new and emerging evidence on the association of HPV vaccine types with non-cervical cancers. JCVI requested that modelling be undertaken by PHE to re-examine the impact and cost-effectiveness of extending the HPV vaccination programme to adolescent boys in light of this evidence. The Department has also commissioned the University of Warwick to conduct an independent modelling assessment on vaccinating adolescent boys.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons Public Health England did not commence its cost effectiveness modelling for HPV vaccination for adolescent boys until 2015.

Jane Ellison: On the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Public Health England (PHE) agreed to analyse the impact and cost effectiveness of gender neutral human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination using an HPV cervical screening model already being developed within PHE. This work was planned to follow the completion of a model to look at the cost-effectiveness of HPV vaccination of men who have sex with men in sexual health clinics. Quality assurance processes have led to a delay in completion of the HPV cervical screening model, which has delayed the commencement of the modelling work on adolescent boys.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the HPV vaccination programme for men who have sex with men will commence; and whether a delivery partner has been secured for that programme.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, agreed at its October meeting that further consultation was needed with stakeholders before finalising its advice to ministers on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of men who have sex with men (MSM). It held a stakeholder consultation between 12 November and 7 January and we understand that the JCVI considered the outcome of the consultation at its meeting on 4 February 2015, as it reviewed its provisional advice on MSM. Any implementation of an HPV MSM vaccination programme and securing a delivery partner will be dependent on the JCVI’s final advice. We look forward to receiving the JCVI’s final advice in due course.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Jane Ellison: The cause of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is still unclear but the condition appears to be connected with cells inside the lungs known as alveolar epithelial cells. There is currently no cure for IPF so the aim of treatment is to try to relieve symptoms and slow its progression.   Younger people with IPF who are in a relatively good state of health may be a suitable candidate for a lung transplant.   Public Health England is currently running a campaign to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (which is a symptom of IPF) to go and see their general practitioner. It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung diseases, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions.

Health Services: Veterans

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress Health Education England has made in ensuring that training is available so that there can be a specialist GP in every clinical commissioning group trained in the physical and mental health needs of armed forces veterans by summer 2015.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) is working with partners to develop an updated e-Learning programme comprising of a pre-assessment; three e-learning sessions on ‘Caring for Veterans and their Families’, ‘Mental Health problems in Veterans’, and ‘Veterans with Severe or Long-term Injuries’; and a post-course assessment.   The e-Learning package is expected to be available in summer 2015, following which HEE will work with partners to promote the package across the National Health Service.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress Health Education England has made in ensuring that a module on perinatal mental health is included in core training for midwives.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) has been working with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Royal College of Midwives, to ensure midwives in training have a core training module focussing on perinatal mental health, with the intention that this will be in place for those entering training in 2015.   HEE has developed three perinatal mental health e-learning modules, in partnership with the Institute of Health Visiting, focusing on both the recognition and interventions needed around perinatal depression and other mental health disorders.

General Practitioners: Training

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress Health Education England has made in developing a mutual health e-learning package to support continuing professional development for GPs by January 2015; and how many GPs have used that package.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) is not currently developing a mutual health e-learning package to support continuing professional development for general practitioners (GPs).   However, HEE has been mandated by the Department to develop a mental health e-learning package which will be available to the public from 9 March. The package has been designed for all primary and secondary healthcare staff, including GPs.   No uptake figures are currently available.

Alliance Medical

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what grounds a contract to run NHS PET-CT cancer scans was awarded to Alliance Medical.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has moved to increase patient access to vital diagnostic tests in cancer care, with an expansion of positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) scanning.   The new services will be provided by a network including Alliance Medical Limited, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, local National Health Service and charitable partners, and a number of leading academic institutions. Key benefits to patients will include:   - Greater value for money, with the cost of scans reducing by almost 18% from current prices; - £87 million investment over 10 years, at 30 different sites across England to install new scanners and improve the current infrastructure; - increased patient access to services, including the provision of PET-CT scanning at five new locations (Bath, Bristol, Carlisle, Lincoln and Truro), where there is currently no provision at all; - faster production of reports, meaning patients receive test results more quickly, thereby reducing the stress of waiting, and allowing treatment to start earlier; and - a substantial number of PET-CT scans at no additional cost to support the research and clinical trials capability of the national network, not only in cancer, but also in new applications such as dementia, to provide the evidence needed to develop and enhance services for patients.

NHS: Private Sector

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that Ministers with financial interests in private health companies do not (a) make a profit from and (b) have influence over the award of NHS contracts to private healthcare companies.

Jane Ellison: NHS England and clinical commissioning groups, not Ministers, make decisions to award contracts to providers of NHS services. In doing so, they must ensure that they act proportionately, transparently, fairly and in the interest of patients, and that all potential conflicts of interest for those involved in awarding contracts are declared and managed appropriately at the outset of the process.   In May 2010, the Government published the Ministerial Code, which sets out the standards of conduct expected of Ministers and how they discharge their duties. Section 7 of this guidance specifies that “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise”.   A full list of ministerial interests is published online, and can be found at the following link:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254671/ministers-interests-october-2013.pdf

Hospital Wards

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to minimise disruption for patients at shift changeovers in hospital wards; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure they have a workforce that can respond to the service needs and plan rotas that are compliant with the Working Time Directive.   Handovers are a major aid to patient safety and continuity of good quality care and many trusts have formalised and timetabled handover time. From an education and training perspective, handovers present an excellent opportunity for training and they form part of a programme, known as ‘Better Training, Better Care’, which was initiated in response to Professor Sir John Temple’s review on the application of the Working Time Directive on doctors’ training.

Hospital Wards

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that hospital wards provide sufficient (a) personal and (b) nursing care to patients; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre workforce statistics for November 2014 shows there has been an increase of nearly 8,500 more nurses working on hospital wards than in 2010.   Through the Mandate, we have asked NHS England to deliver continued improvements in relation to the experience of care. Local healthcare organisations, with their knowledge of the people they serve, are best placed to plan and employ a workforce based on clinical need and sound evidence.   In November 2013, the National Quality Board (NQB) supported by Jane Cummings, the Chief Nursing Officer for England, published guidance on How to ensure the right people, with the right skills, are in the right place at the right time. The guidance specifies that the skill mix of the workforce should reflect the patient care needs and local requirements, considering the experience and capabilities of the workforce employed.   NHS England introduced mandatory reporting of monthly actual and planned nursing and midwifery staffing levels by hospital wards in May 2014. All trusts with inpatient beds are required to publish their staffing fill rates (actual versus planned) in hours on the NHS Choices website. In addition, all inpatient ward areas must display ward / department level information shift by shift regarding the planned versus actual staffing levels at the entrance to the clinical area.   To support trusts further, the Department commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce independent and authoritative evidence based safe staffing guidance, Safe Staffing for Nursing in Adult In-Patient Wards in Acute Hospital’, published in July 2014. The guidance makes recommendations on safe staffing for registered nurses and healthcare assistants, and identifies indicators that should be used by trusts to demonstrate safe and effective nursing care is being provided. Assessment of patients' nursing needs should take into account individual preferences and the need for holistic care and patient contact time.   Directors of nursing are required to take into account the NQB and NICE staffing guidance, as well as Compassion in Practice, the nursing vision and strategy launched by the Department and NHS England in 2012, to ensure the delivery of person centred care and improve health outcomes.   National Health Service trust boards are required to scrutinise and sign-off staffing reports, and these staffing decisions will then be subject to external scrutiny and challenge by commissioners, regulators and the public, and inspection by the Chief Inspector of Hospitals.

Epilepsy

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many finished hospital episodes with a primary diagnosis of epilepsy there were among people aged (a) under and (b) over 18 in England in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: In the following table, we have provided the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) with a primary diagnosis of epilepsy for people aged under 18 and over 18 in England for each of the last five years. The column headed ‘unknown’ contains FCEs where no age was provided.   YearFCEs per age groupTotal FCEs Under 1818+Unknown 2009-1013,19245,48613858,816 2010-1113,64546,99215760,794 2011-1214,01547,21818261,415 2012-1313,48845,55017859,216 2013-1414,35746,01616060,533Notes:   1. A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.   2. Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in National Health Service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information. HES figures includes activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.   Source: HES, Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Epilepsy

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much public money has been granted into research into epilepsy in each of the last five years.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much public money has been invested into development of new drugs and treatments for epilepsy in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: The following table shows estimated expenditure on epilepsy research and development by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) through its research programmes, research centres and units and research fellowships.   £ million  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14National Institute for Health Research0.81.01.32.73.1   Total spend by the NIHR on epilepsy is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this condition cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.   The following table shows estimated expenditure on research on epilepsy by the Research Councils and Innovate UK.   £ million  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14Research Councils and Innovate UK4.23.52.02.33.1   In addition to research directly relating to epilepsy, the Medical Research Council also supports a broad portfolio of research that aims to improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of neuroscience and neurological conditions including epilepsy.   The following table shows estimated expenditure on development of new drugs and treatments for epilepsy by the Research Councils and Innovate UK.   £ million  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14Research Councils and Innovate UK0.10.20.30.30.4

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on improving the speed of diagnosis for people with an inflammatory musculoskeletal condition.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with rheumatoid arthritis are diagnosed and receive treatment within the first three months of referral from primary care.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, published in 2009, emphasises the need for early diagnosis, with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).   NICE also published a quality standard on RA in June 2013. Quality standards are concise sets of prioritised statements designed to drive measurable quality improvements within a particular area of health or care. The standard makes seven statements which are indicators of good care. This includes a statement on referral that sets out that people with suspected RA are referred to a rheumatology service within three working days of presentation. It also includes a statement on assessment which recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral.   Ministers at the Department have had no recent discussions with NHS England on improving the speed of diagnosis for people with inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions.

Epilepsy

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much money has been spent on the prescription of drugs to manage epilepsy in the NHS in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Information on the cost of medicines to treat epilepsy is shown in the table.   Net Ingredient Cost of medicines dispensed in England to treat epilepsy, as defined by British National Formulary (BNF) Section 4.8.1 Control of the epilepsies and 4.8.2 Drugs used in status epilepticus. Primary care cost (£)Secondary care cost (£)2014/15 Q1 only117,954,6398,972,4472013/14455,561,10033,557,5842012/13397,626,88829,691,8302011/12382,640,43127,282,7752010/11346,221,73625,390,6202009/10304,583,39023,954,258 Source:  Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (primary care) Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index (HPAI) provided by IMS Health (secondary care)   Notes: Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) NIC is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. BNF Classifications The PCA system uses the therapeutic classifications defined in the BNF. Information on why a drug is prescribed is not available in this dataset. Since drugs can be prescribed to treat more than one condition, it may not be possible to separate the different conditions for which a drug may have been prescribed.